Dating mechanism



' Juin, 1969 'md April" 121 1967 1.1.11. cABANTous TAL DATING MECHAHISMsheet @r4 F1 1. N fv l. Ummmm. Si n annular/ul.

24 s M2115 3 s 13 31 1 32 ul 1 1969 J y, M.A.cABAN-rous ETAL DATINGMECHANISM med April 12, 1967 sheet 3 or 4 July 1,' 1969 M. C^B^NTUS.ETM- 3,452,535

DATING MECHANISM Sheet Filled April 12. 19s? FIG. 6

' FIG. 7

United States Patent Office Int. Cl. G04b 19/24 U.S. Cl. 58-4 14 ClaimsABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A dating apparatus for indicating the numberand name of the day as well as the month. The apparatus isself-contained; includes at least two rotatable disks bearing indiciaand mechanism to drive the disks at predetermined intervals to changethe day and date. The apparatus may be attached to a clockworkmechanism.

Background of the invention The present invention relates to mechanismswhich are used in watches and clocks particularly for indicating the dayof the month and operate in the manner of an automatic calendar. Most ofthe known devices are limited to the use of a disk which is graduatedfor thirty-one days and moves ahead by one graduation for everytwenty-four hours, which makes it possible to know what date of themonth it is, but not the day of the week. When a month has less thanthirty-one days, it is necessary to correct the date of the month at thebeginning of the latter generally by causing the clock mechanism toexecute several revolutions. It is this device which is among thesimplest that is most widely used in Wrist watches.

Description of prior art Other known devices show, in addition to theday of the month, also the day of the week and sometimes even the monthitself, but these are then considerably more complicated since it isnecessary to use, in addition t0 the disk with thirty-one divisions, adisk having seven divisions corresponding to the days of the Week, whichmultiplies the number of movable gears and of the corresponding drivingmechanisms. Moreover, it is necessary, when a month has less thanthirty-one days, to effect an adjustment relative to the respective dayof the month without affecting the regulation of the day of the weekand, consequently, without the possibility of causing the clockmechanism to execute several revolutions, as is the case in the devicesmentioned hereinabove. As a result thereof, these necessarilycomplicated mechanisms are rather rare and always restricted to rathercostly calendartype clocks.

In contrast thereto, it is the object of the present invention toprovide for a dating mechanism which allows for the simultaneousindication of the day of the month and of the day of the week whilenevertheless being very simple and, more particularly, while utilizingonly a single drive mechanism and a very simple correcting means for useat the end of the month.

Summary of the invention The present invention thus relates to a novelindustrial product in the form of a dating mechanism designed for aclock or the like which is characterized essentially in that itcomprises two concentric disks, both graduatedin thirty-five divisions,the first one comprising seven days of the week repeated five times, andthe second one com- 3,452,535 Patented July 1, 1969 prising the days ofthe month from l to 31 plus four unused or blank areas, the first diskbeing driven by one division every twenty-four hours by the timemechanism of the clockwork by means of an appropriate mechanism, such asa ratchet wheel, with the second disk being driven by the first disk dueto simple friction.

This mechanism may further comprise the following characteristics, takeneither singly or in combination:

(l) It comprises a third disk which is transparent and placed above thetwo first-mentioned disks; said disk ncluding differently coloredsectors as a function of the different phases of a cycle according tothe Ogino method.

(2) The ratchet wheel having thirty-five teeth or cogS and beingintegral with the first disk is driven by an eccentric pin which ismounted preferably elastically on a wheel meshing with the hour axle.

(3) A11 of the axles of the mechanism are integral with a single platesituated therebehind and are enclosed simply by virtue of thepositioning of the dial of the timepiece which is preferably secured bymeans of a central screw.

(4) It further includes a sector which is manually rotatable to show anymonth in a window which is positioned diametrically opposite to thatindicating the days. This sector is superimposed relative to the twoaforementioned disks without being actuated or driven by the latter andwithout ever appearing in the window showing the days.

I(5) The single plate mentioned hereinabove is located behind the dialin a perforation in a panel or frame provided with a dial, all of whichis accomplished without increasing the overall thickness of theassembly.

(6) The frame is provided at one edge with a cutaway portion to renderit possible for the finger of the 0 user to reach the disk for therespective days of the month and cooperates with a perforation in theplate for the purpose of simultaneously driving or actuating the diskfor the days of the week in the direction allowed for by the stop pawl,or only the disk pertaining to the day of the month by causing it toturn in the inverse direction.

In order to render possible a better understanding of the object of thepresent invention, two embodiments thereof will now be described and aregiven as examples and for purposes of illustration only without having alimitative character, and which are taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. l is a front view with a portionof the mechanism according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention being shown exposed;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a front view yof the two graduated disks according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is an axial cross-sectional view of the mechanism according to amodified embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line V-V of FIG. l;

FIG. 6 is a front View with a portion of the small clock being equippedwith the dating mechanism according to the present invention being shownexposed; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII- VII of FIG. 6.

Description of the preferred embodiment As is apparent from FIGURES l to3, the mechanism according to the present invention comprises asessential elements two concentric disks 1 and 2 having differingdiameters so that the first disk 1 cannot cover but a portion of thesecond one. Both of these disks are graduated view taken along lineII-II according to thirty-five divisions per revolution. The first disk,i.e. disk 1, comprises the seven days of the Week repeated ve times. Thesecond disk, i.e. disk 2, includes thirty-one numbers representing thedays of the longest month possible followed by four ungraduateddivisions, in other words, areas not provided with any indicia.

The disk 1 is secured to the end of a hub 3 and made integral therewith,with the hub, in turn, being secured to a ratchet wheel 4 havingthirty-tive teeth. Together these elements comprise a unit which pivotsfreely on a cylindrical sleeve 5 comprising an axial bore 7, said sleevebeing riveted to the plate or front panel 6. The disk 2 is looselymounted on the hub 3 and driven by a slight friction provided by meansof an elastic washer 8 which presses the disk against the base 9 of thehub 3.

The mechanism is constituted by a back panel or second plate 10connected to the plate 6 by means of struts 11, and the entire unit isinterposed between the conventional clock movement' schematicallyillustrated at 12 and the dial 13 of the timepiece with the twoconcentric axles of the minute axle 14 and that of the hour hand 15simply extending through the bore 7 of the cylindrical part 5.

The hour axle 15 is provided with a pinion 16 which executes onerevolution in twelve hours and drives a toothed wheel 17 which has twiceas many teeth or cogs and consequently executes one complete revolutionwithin twenty-four hours. This wheel revolves around an axle 18 which isriveted to the plate '10 and carries as an integral part thereof aratchet wheel 19 and a cam 20. One end of a pawl 21 engages a spring 22and is adapted at the opposite end to contact the teeth of the ratchetwheel 19 in such a manner as to permit rotation only as indicated by thearrow A and thus opposing any inverse rotation, particularly `when thetimepiece is set at the desired hour.

The cam includes a lobe 20 and abruptly ends in a radial wall 23. Thelobe 20 drives an elastic blade or spring means 24 through a lug portion25, the free end of said spring means terminating in a leg portion 2-6adapted for cooperation with the ratchet wheel 4. The spring means 24 isbent by the cam 20 in the course of twenty-four hours and is thereaftersuddenly freed at the rectilinear portion of the radial Wall 23 at theend of the day in such a manner that the catch 26 causes the ratchetwheel 4 and therewith the entire unit of disks 1 and 2 to advance by onethirty-fifth of a revolution.

When the timepiece is initially set for operation, it is necessary, ofcourse, to adjust it to the particular hour by checking the position ofthe cam 20 in order to avoid an error of twelve hours. Thereafter, thedisk 1 must be adjusted to the desired day. For this purpose, one couldturn the hands carried by the clockwork mechanism sev eral times bytwenty-four hours, but it is much simpler to provide a device whichcomprises a spring blade means 27 including an angular leg portion 29,the free end of which has a tongue-like extremity 30 which is arrangedto drive the ratchet wheel 4 in a counter clockwise direction. Thespring blade means 27 is manually actuated that by pressing the buttonas many times as is desired, the disk 1 may be advanced by thecorresponding number of days until the desired day appears in the window31 which is provided in the dial.

Next, the appropriate number corresponding to the respective day of themonth must be arranged so that it will show in another window 32 of thedial. This may be accomplished simply by turning the disk 2 by hand ineither one direction or the other, for example, by any instrument whichis extended through the opening available. The friction produced by thespring washer 8 is preferably suiciently slight so that the rotation ofthe disk 2 in any direction does not actuate or turn the disk 1.Furthermore, disk 1 is retained 'by the two pawls 26 and 30 as well asby a further application of force created by the spring-type pawl 33which also acts on the ratchet wheel 4. This friction nevertheless doesallow for very easily driving the disk 2 which, like the disk 1, may bemade of extremelv .light Weight material.

`Once the timepiece has been set in this manner, the disks 1 and 2 turnsimultaneously by one division every time the end of the day has beenreached so that the day of the week as well as the exact date of themonth will constantly show in the windows 31 and 32. When the end of themonth has been reached, that is to say, the 28th, 29th, 30th, or 31st,as the case may be, a manual action suffices -by manually rotating thedisk 2 as described before, in order to have the latter turn withoutaffecting disk 1 until the number l appears in the window 32, the datingmechanism therewith having been set for the entire following month.

As a matter of fact, by virtue of the teaching of this invention and theuse of thirty-live divisions representing an entire number of weeks, thesuccession of the days of the week is not disturbed.

In the modified embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 4 and5, the first disk 1 is identical to the disk previously describedherein; in other words, it comprises thirty-tive graduations at the rateof seven days of the week repeated tive times. This disk is integralwith a hub portion 34 which, in turn, is integral with a ratchet wheel4. These elements form a unit arranged to rotate freely about aninternally threaded central portion 35 which is atiixed to thecup-shaped plate 36. The hub portion 34 abuts at one end against a ange37 of the portion 35 and is held at the other end thereof by anysuitable means such as a washer 38. Visible at 13 is the dial of theclock which includes an opening 39 in which latter appear the date andthe day of the month. The dial 13 provides together with the plate 36 ahousing for the mechanism forming this invention. As shown in FIG. 5 thedial 13 is supported relative to the central portion 35 and securedthereto with the aid of an externally threaded sleeve that includes acollar 40. Shown at 12 is the clockwork movement of the timepiece fromwhich extends the hour axle 15, which, in turn, telescopes the minuteaxle 14, these elements being arranged to extend through theaforementioned sleeve.

The actuation of ratchet wheel 4 is effected by means of a toothed wheel41 meshing with a pinion 42 which is integral with the hour axle 15,said pinion having only half as many teeth or cogs so that wheel 41turns by one revolution every twenty-four hours. This wheel 41 isintegral with a hub portion 43 and adapted to rotate on an axle 44 whichis suitably aixed relative to the plate 36. Mounted on wheel 41 andarranged to travel therewith is a U-shaped spring 46 which has one end47 thereof associated with a perforation in said wheel with the otherfree end thereof bent at an angle to provide a leg 45 which extendsthrough a radially slotted area 48 in wheel 41 and into engagement withthe teeth of ratchet wheel 4. In this manner, the leg 45 causes theratchet wheel 4 t0 advance by one tooth or cog with each turn of thewheel 41. A catch 49 pivotally mounted, as at 50, to plate 36 ismaintained in contact with ratchet wheel 4 by a spring 51 and therebykeeps the wheel 4 immovable during the remainder of the rotation of thewheel 41. Conversely, this pin or leg 45 withdraws from the path of oneof the ratchet teeth so as to allow the wheel 4 to turn when therotation of the disk 1 is initiated, for example, by means of amechanism (not shown).

Mounted in surface contact with the disk 1 is a second disk 2 which isdriven through friction by means of an elastic ring or washer member 52supported on the wheel 4. As described hereinbefore, this disk 2comprises the days of the month from 1 to 31 plus four unused divisions,and these graduations appear in the window 39 adjacent to the day of theWeek. The disk 2 includes advantageously an inclined edge or Iborder `53which confronts a perforation 54 which is provided adjacent to the edgeof the cup-shaped plate 36. This arrangement makes possible the rotationof disk 2 merely by extending ones finger into the perforation 54. Thisallows for proceeding with the adjustment at each end of the month, asalready indi- P cated hereinabove with respect to the first embodimentof the invention.

Finally, the apparatus according to the present invention comprises athird disk 56 disposed on the opposite side of disk 1 and is mountedasin disk Z-so as to rotate around the hub portion 34 and is driven simplythrough the medium of disk 1. This co-action is accomplished by a secondelastic ring or washer 57 which is supported on an annulus 58 which issecured to the extremity of the hub portion 34. The disk 56 is made froma transparent material so as to allow at all times the observation ofthe day and the date of the month through the window 39. Also, the disk56 includes differently colored sectors which allow for the use of thewell-known Ogino method, the amplitude of each of the sectors thereofcorresponding to the duration of the phases of the cycle. A correctionmay be applied thereto each month according to the duration of the cyclewith respect to the thirtyive graduations by extending ones finger intothe perforation 54 and engaging the edge 59 so as to rotate disk 56.

Depending upon the coloration of the background of disk 56 which appearsin the opening 39, the user of the new device is thus always aware as tothe particular phase of a cycle at any given time.

It is apparent, therefore, that the dating mechanism as proposed by thepresent invention, while being extremely simple it requires only asingle drive mechanism, is nevertheless completely automatic and needsat most only a single manual correction at the end of the month which isextremely easy and fast.

In a still further embodiment of the invention as illustrated in FIGS.`6 and 7, the small clock or timepiece has a conventional, preferablyelectrical, clock movement 12 attached behind a decorative panel 60 withthe dial 13 being secured to the front face thereof and may include aswell a protective gass lens 61.

The dating mechanism is disposed entirely within a plate 36 of the typedescribed earlier in connection with the other embodiments of ltheinvention and comprises a stamped element having a substantiallycylindrical perimeter which is arranged to be positioned in a circularopening 62 provided within the confines of the panel or frame 60. Thisplace is secured to the housing of clock movement 12 by means of twothreaded screws 64 and 66 (FIG. 6) and comprises an element 65 generallysimilar to portion 35 shown in FIG. 5 which is adapted to surround theaxles, previously described, and is axed to plate 36 as shown. Thiselement 65 is partially cut away on one side to allow the wheel 41 tomesh with the wheel 16 which is carried by the hour axle.

In contrast to the other embodiment of the invention disclosed hereinthe U-shaped spring is replaced in this instance by a tooth or cog 67provided on a sleeve-like element 68 which is driven, due to friction,by means of the hub 43 carried by wheel 41 which latter, in turn,rotates about an axle 44 that is secured to the plate 36. A comparisonof the view in FIG. 5 with that of FIG. 6 will disclose the generalsimilarity of these structures and particularly the pawl arrangement. Itwill be noted that the teeth on the ratchet 4 are oppositely disposed tothose shown in FIG. 5, and a spring 65 holds the pawl 49 in engagementtherewith.

A hub 3 is arranged to freely rotate around the element 65. The ratchetwheel 4 is secured to one flange of the hub and to an oppositelydisposed flange; the disks 1 and 2 carrying the days of the week and themonth, respectively, are superimposed one upon the other and driven byfriction.

A sector 70 which bears the inscription of the twelve months of the yearand includes a small lever 71, best shown in FIG. 7, is adapted torotate around the element 65.

The unit formed by the clock movement 12 and the plate 36 is mounted inthe perforation 62 of the panel 60 and secured behind the dial 13 bymeans of an externally threaded collar 40 which is screwed into theelement 65. A tongue or llange portion 72 (see FIG. 6) integral with theplate 36 additionally serves to immobilize the entire rotating unit insuch a manner that the inscriptions of the days of the week appearclearly centered in the window 39. The panel 60 is provided with acut-out portion 73 and together with the perforation 54 provided in theplate 36 enables one to extend his finger into the back of the clock inorder to reach the edge of the disk 2 to rotate the same when desired aspreviously explained in connection with the earlier embodiments of thisinvention.

The operation of the mechanism in all embodiments is precisely the same,and when the end of the month has been reached, the adjustment of thedate is effected in a very simple manner. It is sufficient, in fact, toactuate the disk 2 in the direction shown by the arrow 74 in order todrive simultaneously and by friction the disk 1 until the number of theday of the month surpasses that of the date provided for and until thecorrect day of the week appears in the window 39. In order to accomplishthis, it is generally sufficient to turn the unit by seven notches.

Thereafter, the disk 2 is still actuated, but now in a directionopposite to that indicated by the arrow 74 and in such a manner that thedisk 1 is blocked by means of the pawl 49 and only the disk 2 will stillrotate while striving to overcome the actuation due to friction thereof.The disk 2 is turned, of course, until the correct day of the monthappears in the window 39.

The combination of these two operations is extremely rapid and easy dueto the smoothness of the mechanism and the length of the opening 73.Finally, it is sufficient, of course, to actuate the sector 70 byactuating the lever 71 thereof as explained hereinbefore in order tohave the correct month appear in the window 75, the latter beingdisposed diametrically opposite that of the window 39.

It is thus apparent that all of the indicia, i.e. the days of the month,the days of the Week, and the months of the year, may have a maximumdimension without causing the sector 70, which is provided only withtwelve months and covers an area smaller than a half circle, to appearin the window 39.

Therefore, it is seen conclusively that, with respect to a conventionaltimepiece comprising the same clock movement 12, the same panel 60, andthe same dial 13, the provision of a timepiece with the dating mechanismproposed by the present invention indicating the month, the day of theweek and the day of the month is extremely simple and requires only avery small number of additional elements.

On the other hand, the entire to use and merely requires an adjustingoperation at the end of each month. Lastly, the overall dimension orspace of the apparatus as a whole is not increased thereby.

More particularly, the number of divisions, instead of being equal tothirty-live, could be any multiple of seven over twenty-eight. Finally,the different means for the mechanical ydrive and manual control couldbe replaced by any equivalent means.

What is claimed is:

1. A dating mechanism comprising spacedly arranged front and rearpanels, annularly anged sleeve means positioned in a perforation in saidfront panel, a rst means abutting said flanged sleeve means, a hubmember telescoping said sleeve means and engaging said lirst means,rotatable disk means associated with said hub member, friction creatingmeans associated with said hub member and interposed between said diskmeans, axle means oifstanding normal to the back panel and in a planeparallel to said hub member, cam means mounted on said axle, spring-likemeans extending from the back panel adapted to cooperate with said cammeans carried by said axle means and the first means, and further meanscarried by said axle adapted to receive continuous rotational signalsfrom a source and thereupon transmit said signals to said disk meansperiodically.

unit is extremely easy 2. A dating mechanism according to claim 1,further comprising manually actuated means associated with said backpanel and adapted to impart rotational movement to said rst means.

3. A dating mechanism according to claim 1, wherein each of said diskmeans is provided with circumferentially disposed graduations.

4. A dating mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said front panel isprovided with plural means defining openings therein.

5. A dating mechanism according to claim 4, wherein a perforated dial isadapted to overlie the front panel, said perforations in the dialcorresponding to the means dening openings in the front panel.

6. A dating mechanism according to claim 1, further characterized bybeing attachable to a continuously driven clockwork mechanism.

7. A dating mechanism according to claim 3, wherein the graduations onone of said disk means progress numerically at least from 1 to 3l.

8. A dating mechanism according to claim 1, wherein another of said diskmeans includes repetitively and in sequence the days of the week atleast five times.

9. A dating mechanism according to claim 1, further characterized by athird disk which is rotatably secured relative to the hub member.

10. A dating mechanism according to claim 9, wherein said third disk istransparent.

11.` A dating mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the source fromwhich the rotational signals are transmitted comprise telescopicallydisposed means arranged to rotate the hour and minute hands of a clock.

12. A dating mechanism according to claim 1, wherein an indicia bearingsector is rotatably secured to said hub member between saidconcentrically arranged disk means and the front panel.

13. A dating mechanism according to claim 12, wherein said sector isprovided with lever means adapted for actuation of said sector, saidlever extending beyond the rear panel.

14. A dating mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the datingmechanism is positioned in a frame member, said frame member includingmeans dening an access opening which cooperates with an opening providedin the rear panel whereby appropriate disks may be rotated at will bythe user of the dating mechanism.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,327,470 6/1967 Kuzara 58-4RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner.

EDITH C. SIMMONS, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. C1. X.R. 58-58 m23@ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OFCORRECTION Patent No. 314521535 Dated July l, 1969 Invent0r(5) M. A.CabantOLlS et afl It is certified that error appears in theabove-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

Col. 3, line 56, "manually actuated that by" should read --manuallyactuated by means of' a button 28. It will now be apparent that by-;Col. 5, line 27, after "Simple" should be glass SIGNED SEALED NOV 181959 (SEAL) Attest:

Edward M. Fletcher, It'. WILLIAM E. SCIHUYL'R JR Attesting OfficerCOmmissioner of Patents

